Cultural, Social, and Political

Institutions

Cardillo-Kapuno-Nemenzo
The Problem of Defining the Family

Traditional Definitions
Filipinos are family-oriented.
The family centeredness supplies a basic sense of
belonging, stability, and security.
It is from our families that we naturally draw our
sense of self-identity.
Consider the following:

Declining marriage rate and increasing rate of

cohabitation.
Increasing annulment rate.
Increasing number of cases of domestic violence.
Increasing number of women entering the labor force.
What do all these trends indicate? Does the rising
rate of cohabitation and declining rate in marriage
redefine the family? If many women are entering
the labor force and migrating to work, do these
indicate the decline of the traditional family? Will
the family survive the future if domestic violence is
on the rise?
Definition of FAMILY

The definition of family will vary according to one’s personal

experience, cultural background, sexual orientation, and moral
outlook.
Mike Morris’ Concise Dictionary of Social and Cultural
Anthropology (2012) defined family as:
“A group of people who have a common residence and/or
relationship, and who share economic and reproductive ties.”
 Census Bureau of Canada defines the
family:

Census family refers to a married couple and the children, if any, of either or
both spouses; a couple living common law and the children, if any, of either
or both partners; or, a lone parent of any marital status with at least one child
living in the same dwelling and that child or those children. All members of a
particular census family live in the same dwelling. A couple may be of
opposite or same sex. Children may be children by birth, marriage or
adoption regardless of their age or marital status as long as they live in the
dwelling and do not have their own spouse or child living in the dwelling.
Grandchildren living with their grandparent(s) but with no parents present
also constitute a census family.
The United Nations (UN) uses the term
nucleus family:

A family nucleus is one of the following types (each of which must consist of
persons living in the same household):
a)A married couple without children,
b)A married couple with one or more unmarried children,
c) A father with one or more unmarried children or
d)A mother with one or more unmarried children.

 Couples living in consensual unions should be regarded as married

couples.
 Elements common in the definitions:

 The biological component (with a child, married)

 The functional component (takes care of the children and provides
economic support)
 The residential component (living under one household or common
residence)

Friedrich Engels argued that families do evolve in relation to the material and
economic conditions of society and that they have never been static all
throughout human evolution.
The FAMILY as a basic unit of society performs
important functions or roles for society:

1)For biological reproduction;

2)As the primary agent of socialization of children;
3)As the institution for economic cooperation through
division of labor; and
4)To care for and nurture children to become responsible
adults.
Why the Definition of Family Matters

Article I of the Philippine Family Code fixes the definition of marriage and the resulting family
based on the union:
“Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered
into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the
foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution.”

 The Philippine Family Code thus excludes same-sex marriage and polygamous unions.
 Whether one provides a normal definition of the family or normative model, one must
accept the fact that families do change.
 The definition of the family has important consequences for family policy and its goals.
 It also defines who the members are. By identifying the members, one also provides a legal
definition that determines what benefits the family members may get.
 Illegitimate child is entitled to receive support from his/her biological father
provided that the latter recognized the child as his own. If the biological
father did not recognize the child as his own, then support cannot be
demanded unless a court order is obtained.
 The benefits that a family gets, whether illegitimate or not, whether
recognized or not, will depend on the definition of the family. For some
reason, legally adopted children are better situated when it comes to
inheritance as they are treated the same with legitimate children.
 Cohabitants are couples who share a common residence with a child, just
like a nuclear family, but without the benefit of marriage.
Family and Household

The UN differentiates household from a family:

a)That a household may consist of only one person but a
family must contain at least two members and
b)That the members of a multi-person household need not
be related to each other, while the members of a family
must be related.
Types of Families

Nuclear Family. The most basic family form and is made up of

a married couple and their biological or adopted children. It is
found in all societies, and it is from this form that all other types
of family forms are derived.
Extended Family. A family that includes the other members of
the kinship group such as your uncles, grandparents, and
cousins.
Nuclearization of the Families. A process refers to the growing
predominance of nuclear families over extended families in both
rural and urban areas, which is brought about by urbanization
and economic development.
Classifications of Nuclear and Extended Families:
Family of orientation- the family to which one belongs
Family of procreation- when one establishes a new family
through marriage
Families and the Rule of Descent
T
 The rules of descent are important for maintaining the social cohesion and solidarity among families, clans and
relatives.
TWO TYPES OF DECENT GROUPS
a) Unilineal- trace their descent either through the father or the mother
b) Ambilineal- the children can opt to claim lineage on either their father or their mother’s family group
Matrilineal Descent- people join the mother’s group automatically at birth and stay members throughout life
Patrilineal Descent- people automatically have lifetime membership in the father’s group
RESIDENCE RULE FOR MARRIED COUPLE S AFTER MARRIAGE
Neolocal residence- couples have the freedom and option to live separately and independent of their respective
families
Patrilocality- a married couple resides with or near the husband’s parents
Matrilocality- a married couple resides with or near the wife’s parents
Bilocal- couples, upon marriage, choose to live with or near either spouse’s parents
 Marriage and the Family

Edward Westermark (1891) defined marriage as “a relation of one or more men

to one or more women which is recognized by customs or law and involves
certain rights and duties both in case of parties entering into the union and in
the case of children born of it.”
 Marriage is at the center of the kinship system. It creates alliances and “fictive
kinship” among members of clans and tribes.
THREE ASPECTS OF KINSHIP
1) It comprises forms of nomenclature and classification.
2) Rules which affect people’s kinship behavior, covering everything from
criminal laws to ideas about good manners , and
3) What people actually do .
Kinship Terminology

ENDOGAMY- the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic

group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such a basis as
being unsuitable for marriage or for other close personal
relationship.
EXOGAMY- the practice of marrying outside one’s group, which is
common in modern societies.
Rules of exogamy create links between groups, while rules of
endogamy preserve separateness and exclusivity, and are a
means of maintaining boundaries between one group and other
groups.
 CONSANGUINEAL- (“blood relation”, from the Latin consanguinitas)
relations and relations of affinity. Two people are related to each
other by consanguinity if they have a common ancestor or one is a
descendant of the other.
 AFFINAL LINKS- the links between kin groups where two people are
related by affinity if they are married, or if one person is related by
blood to the other person’s spouse.
 Godparenthood or compradrazgo- a social relationships made by
means of ritual observances.
Relationship of Consanguinity

Person 1st degree 2nd degree 3rd degree 4th degree

Child or Parent Grandchild, Great-grandchild, Great-great

grandchild,
Sister, Niece, Grandniece,

Brother, or Nephew, Grandnephew,

Grand-parent Aunt, First cousin,

Uncle, or Great aunt,

Great-grandparent Great uncle, or

Great-great-
grandparent
Relationship of Affinity

Person 1st degree 2nd degree

Spouse, Brother-in-law,
Mother-in-law, Sister-in-law,
Father-in-law, Spouse’s grandparent,
Son-in-law, Spouse’s grandchild,
Daughter-in-law, Grandchild’s spouse, or
Stepson, Spouse of grandparent
Stepdaughter,
Stepmother, or
Stepfather
 Like the definition of family, the definition of marriage as an institution varies
across cultures and people around the world.
Same-sex marriage (also known as gay marriage)
 It is a marriage between two people of the same biological sex and/or gender
identity.
 Legal recognition of same-sex marriage or the possibility to perform a same-sex
marriage is sometimes referred to as marriage equality or equal marriage.
 One recent study of same-sex marriage argues that same-sex marriage follows
the conventional symbolism and meanings attached to traditional heterosexual
marriage.
Polygamous and Monogamous Marriages

 POLYGAMY- a marriage that includes more than two partners

Polygyny- a relationship when a man is married to more than one wife at a
time
Polyandry- a relationship when a woman is married to more than one
husband at a time
 GROUP OR CONJOINT MARRIAGE- a marriage which includes multiple
husbands and wives
 SORORAL POLYGYNY- the practice when a man marries several sisters
 MONOGAMY- a marriage that includes only two partners
 Emerging Issues on Families

Families and Domestic Violence

 Family violence encompasses not only violence between female
and male partners or same sex partners but also child abuse and
elder abuse
Domestic Violence- refers to abuse by one person of another in an
intimate relationship
 The abuse may take the form of physical violence, emotional
abuse, sexual abuse, and even stalking.
Divorce and Remarriage

DIVORCE is a court order saying that a man and woman are NO LONGER husband and wife.
ANNULMENT is a judicial statement that THERE NEVER WAS A MARRIAGE between the man and the
woman.
Grounds for Annulment:
o Absence of parental consent during the narriage
o Mental illness
o Fraud
o Lack of consent, and
o Certain diseases
LEGAL SEPARATION is a decree that gives the husband and wife the right to live separately from each
other, although they are not allowed by the law to remarry.